NCSA: Top 10 college athletic departments to follow on social media

USA TODAY High School Sports has a weekly column on the college recruiting process. Here, you’ll find practical tips and real-world advice on becoming a better recruit to maximize your opportunities to play at the college level. Nelson Gord is a former collegiate and professional ballplayer, successful high school head coach, and also the founder of the largest travel baseball club in Illinois. Nelson is just one of many former college and professional players, college coaches, and parents who are part of the Next College Student Athlete team. Their knowledge, experience, and dedication, along with NCSA’s history of digital innovation and long-standing relationship with the college coaching community, helped create NCSA Team Edition, the free recruiting platform for club and high school coaches.

When it comes to getting a peek at the collegiate athlete experience, one of the easiest ways to do so is through social media. Sure, potential recruits should do their research, go on campus visits and make coach calls, but Twitter and Instagram can also be great tools for seeing what game day looks like on campus. And while almost every collegiate athletic department has social media accounts, some stand out more than others. It may not be the complete list, but if you’re looking for social media inspiration, we recommend checking out these accounts. (After first following NCSA’s accounts, of course.)

Duke has a storied athletics program that has notched 16 team national titles and 24 individual national titles, but that doesn’t mean they use their pedigree as a crutch on social media. Make sure to check out the fun stories on their Instagram account.